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An Introduction
The social science discipline that looks at the
development and structure of human society
and how it works
Sociology is the study of social life, social
change, and the social causes and
consequences of human behaviour.
Sociologists investigates the structure of groups,
organizations, and societies.
How people interact within these contexts.
All human behaviour is social so the subject matter of
sociology ranges from the intimate family to the hostile
mob; from organized crime to religious cults; from the
divisions of race, gender and social class to the shared
beliefs of a common culture; and from the sociology of
work to the sociology of sports.
The Roles we Play
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We all play certain roles
in our society
 Social Scientists refer to
this as status
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Status is the term used
to describe our position
within an institution
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Hierarchy is the ranking system
used in any particular
environment based on
authority or power
Each position or role requires a
certain type of expertise which
is valued by society
In order to distinguish between
these roles people are
expected to dress and act in a
certain way
On any given day we can play
many different roles in society
– eg. A parent can drive their
kids to school and then go to
work and be a CEO of a
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Values – Society carries with it a system of values.
A particular set of values are assigned to each role.
The practitioners of these roles are expected to
accept and internalize these values.
Norms – These are rules set out for a particular role
that are considered standard behaviour (e.g.
Catholic Priests are expected to be celibate)
Rules – These are developed by cultures based on
their system of values
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Deviance – Any behaviour that is different from the
societal norm. It is deviant because we, as a
society, do not accept it
Deviance can range from simple eccentricities to
behaviour that harms society or is considered
disreputable
“We must not say that an action shocks the common
conscience because it is criminal, but rather that it is
criminal because it shocks the common conscience. We
do not reprove (denounce) it because it is a crime, but it is
a crime because we reprove it” Emile Durkheim
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Sociology has formed a
strong link with the justice
system
A fundamental
component of modern
imprisonment is
rehabilitation, or trying to
re-educate and
resocialize inmates so
that they can grow to
accept society’s values
and norms
Kingston Penitentiary
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Sociologists have debated among
themselves about the real nature of society
As societies change and become more
diverse sociologists need to consider cultural
diversity when considering sociological
issues

Based on Emile
Durkheim’s work.
According to structuralfunctionalism, each
society should provide its
members with the
fundamental
requirements for
functioning
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Structural-Functionalists argue that societies
remain stable by its members sharing values
and agree on ways that its institutions operate.
Change is slow, then society stable.
Also, they recognize that when change occurs
in one part, there is change in another. During
times rapid change, the danger is that
sometimes institutions fail to fulfill their
function.
Examples???
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Conflict Theory rooted in
the basic division
between the “haves” and
“have nots” of society.
Based on Karl Marx’s
theories. Society is a
collection of disparate
groups struggling over a
limited supply of
resources and power.
Social ills stem from the
economic inequalities
between the two classes.

The struggle for economic power means that society is
not static but ever-changing – social change is the result
of a change made to the economic system; therefore, if
we want to understand society, we must understand the
economic system in place
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Neo-Marxists believe the economic system creates a
rich class of owners and a poor class of workers and that
social institutions perpetuate the division between the
powerful and the powerless.
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Max Weber also inspired sociologists who
follow Conflict Theory. He argued that
conflict arises as much over values, status,
ad a sense of personal honour as economic
status
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Herbert Blumer, 1937
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Symbolic Interactionists
look at small groups and
interpersonal relations; they
believe society is a product
of face-to-face interaction
between people using
symbols (meaningful things
that represent something
else– words, gestures and
signs).
Symbolic Interactionists
focus on the processes by
which people interpret and
respond to the actions of
others and how social
structures arise out of this.
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Society is a product of
interaction between people
in their everyday social
relationships.
Another key idea for SIs is
that people’s actions are
based on understandings of
meanings of the particular
situation– the “definition of
the situation.”
It is essentially how we as
individuals process and
interpret what we observe
in society, not society’s
institutions, that form the
core of our value system.
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Feminist Theorists focus on sex and gender issues,
believing that women have traditionally been
disadvantaged in society.
All branches of feminism argue that domination of
women is not biological determinism but a result of
socio-economic and ideological factors… and work to
eliminate the social inequality of women.
They believe that men have made the decisions in
society and that men have the tendency to be
favoured.
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Liberal (or “Bourgeois”) Feminism, in which the
claim of women for equal rights is seen in the
context of a general opposition to various forms
of oppression and discrimination, independently
of other political convictions. Liberal feminism
tends to emphasize social policy to open up
professional, better-paid and prestigious jobs to
women and the elimination of laws
discriminating against the political, property and
social rights of women
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Marxian Feminists believe that women’s
unpaid and undervalued domestic work has
made it possible for industrial owners to pay
lower wages to male workers.
They also believe that the continuation of
lower paid jobs has enabled the dominant
class (the capitalists) to retains their control
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Radical Feminists believe that their natural
child bearing role has led to a systematic
oppression by men
They believe they live in a patriarchal society
in which men dominate most of the
institutions and are so entrenched that
women cannot break in to these fields
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Socialist Feminists try to separate issues of
oppression that are the result of the
patriarchy which is a result of capitalism
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Inclusionists recognized that conflict could take
place in a society between ethnic, racial and
religious groups as well as between economic
classes
Before WWII, most sociologists took an
assimilationist view of race believing the cultural
majority would eventually absorb the minority
(melting pot)
In the late 1960s however, changing immigration
policies changed all this as large numbers of
immigrants moved to places like Canada to live
Discipline
Main Focus
Methods Listed
Anthropology
The development of the
human species and
human cultures
throughout the world
Living with the cultural group
for extended periods;
observing rituals and
group behaviours
Psychology
Individual behaviour, to
discover the underlying
triggers or causes of
human behaviour
Studying people's feelings,
thoughts, and personality
development through
interviews to determine
past influential
experiences; conducting
animal experiments,
believing these will lead to
a greater understanding of
the human mind
Sociology
How people act in group
situations; the
development and
structure of human
society and how it works
Conducting statistical analysis
and observation
What is the
nature of
Anthropology culture?
How is
culture
transmitted?
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How does
culture
emerge?
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What are the
functions of
culture?
Why do individuals
behave as they do?
•How do human beings
behave, think, feel, and
know?
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Psychology
What holds groups and
societies together?
•How do various forms
of social organization
emerge? What are
their functions?
•What are the structures
and processes of
human social
organizations?
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Sociology